Bob Dawe (Suffolk)

Bob Dawe , red barn pottery suffolk, hand built rolled pots 1965-

impressed mark BD sinifies early 65-68

medium size 7" large 8"+ small 4" approx

small volcano form

glazed sunspot images are sought after and the larger the piece the better , usually

wall pocket vases

glazed conical sun pot

dantheman wrote:i have noticed that several potters used this style in the 60's,does anyone know where these potters drew inspiration from?

Probably Kenneth Clark, who taught at Goldsmiths and then the Central School of Art in London in the late 1950s/early 1960s. He shared a ceramics studio with his wife, Ann Wynn Reeves, and then went on to specialise in the manufacture and design of tiles.

dantheman wrote:http://www.studiopottery.com/cgi-bin/pg.cgi

more examples of his work and his stamps

for me he is more interesting than Bernard Rooke but then I am a fan of decorative glaze

Most of the "Bernard Rooke" that you see is later stuff that he had little or nothing to do with - his son (or sons can't remember how many) basically ran the pottery in recent years, producing moulded items. Some of Bernard's 1960s work was really exciting but very rarely seen.

dantheman wrote:i have noticed that several potters used this style in the 60's,does anyone know where these potters drew inspiration from?

Hello. This is Bob Dawe replying to your interesting question about our style of pottery in the 60s. It was probably because several of us went to Goldsmiths College, where building pottery was far more of an interest to us than throwing. Secondly, under the influence of two splendid tutors: David Garbett and Gordon Baldwin. There was a very strong emphasis on textual decoration that related to the pot and enhanced its form. We enjoyed hand-building because it was a much more direct way of using clay than throwing, where you have a "machine" ie the wheel between you and the clay.

dantheman wrote:did he stamp his work RD?

No, never. Apart from the Red Barn barn logo, I never used RD but sometimes BD with the B backwards. This was when Howard Evans, my partner at Red Barn Pottery, and I parted company. From then onwards I worked on my own, most of the time using the Red Barn logo because by that time Howard was using his initials, and not the Red Barn mark.

dantheman wrote:http://www.studiopottery.com/cgi-bin/pg.cgi

more examples of his work and his stamps

for me he is more interesting than Bernard Rooke but then I am a fan of decorative glaze

I'm flattered by your comparison of my work with Rooke's and that you find my pots more interesting. With reference to the glaze, the big advantage of the glazes that were used at Goldsmith's and that I've used ever since can fire to matt but can have the textual similarity to much higher-fired stoneware glazes. However, at the same time, because they don't go to such a high a temperature as stoneware, they still retain colour, rather than coming out with the usual stoneware colours of greys and buffs, which can, to my mind, look a but dull. I should mention, incidentally, that these glazes were originated by Gordon Baldwin, I think (a part-time tutor at Goldsmiths College), whereas Bernard Rooke's glazes were, I think, usually stoneware. So with these glazes you have the advantage of both texture and colour - as earthenware glazes are usually associate with not particularly attractive high gloss (although, of course, I did use one or two of these - in particular, a rich, shiny honey).

bobdawe wrote:

dantheman wrote:i have noticed that several potters used this style in the 60's,does anyone know where these potters drew inspiration from?

Hello. This is Bob Dawe replying to your interesting question about our style of pottery in the 60s. It was probably because several of us went to Goldsmiths College, where building pottery was far more of an interest to us than throwing. Secondly, under the influence of two splendid tutors: David Garbett and Gordon Baldwin. There was a very strong emphasis on textual decoration that related to the pot and enhanced its form. We enjoyed hand-building because it was a much more direct way of using clay than throwing, where you have a "machine" ie the wheel between you and the clay.

Hi Bob and welcome to the forum,
I agree whole heartedly with your preference for hand building,I find the wheel slightly ristricting whereas hand building gives me far more freedom to take full advantage of a 3 dimentional medium.

Question that Bob might help on , I have had a few of the rolled cylinder and pyramid shaped pieces in the past and see them frequently at fairs , so I am guesing they were a mainstay of your studio , did you do many larger pieces ? Ed

Three Bob Dawe Vases

Any ideas on this pot anyone?

Small volcano vase pick up today.
But can anyone tell me about the mark, which has a spot in the house.
Can it be dated from this?

Hi

An interesting 4.5 inch high vase with wheel design and impressed House or square triangle mark. I'm not convinced about the quality of this piece and the mark is close to Habitat's. Seems to have been nade by rolling up the clay leaving a seem join. Top half glazed bottom half matte finished. Any thoughts welcome, about the piece not just random thoughts that is because I'm not giving out free pennies...

A small Bob Dawe vase - 4" tall.